Hindsight
by secooper87
Summary: Now that Jack's gone, it's inevitable. One of these days, Seo is going to save the world. And Torchwood is going to shoot her for it.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: The story does start after the Valiant, yes, but not to fear, it's about the time _before_ the Year that Never Was. There are two direct prequels to "the Years that Never Were", and this story is the first of them.

I don't think, during the last story, that Alison ever really understood what 13 lives actually entailed.

Anyways.

Enjoy!

* * *

After the Valiant, 2008.

"A Time Lord," Buffy mused. "Another…" She shook her head. "It seems so obvious, in hindsight. But I honestly never saw it coming."

"None of us did," said Jack.

Remembering the Year he'd just experienced. The many tortures and deaths he'd been subjected to at the hands of an insane Time Lord genius — who'd been spying on him and his team for the last 18 months.

"You know," said Buffy, "the worst thing about this is that Torchwood and I are probably most responsible for getting him elected in the first place."

Jack cringed. Yes, he knew everyone on his team had probably voted for the Master. That was something the Master liked to gloat about, when he killed and tortured Jack's team members in front of him. Taunted them about how… they'd been the reason he got into power in the first place. They'd caused this all to happen.

"It's not your fault," said Jack. "He was sending out a psychic signal using the—"

"Cell phones, yeah, got that," said Buffy, leaning back. "Four beats. Da-da-da-dum. Telling people not to question him. And, if they did question, or heard anyone else questioning him, they'd feel like they needed to march right up to Saxon or someone close to him and spill the beans."

Jack stared at her. "How did you know…?"

Buffy gave him a sideways look. "I didn't. Not consciously, anyways. Seo did." She sighed, leaning against the back of the chair, dropping her head and staring up at the ceiling. "She didn't know who he was or what his plan was, but she figured out Harold Saxon wasn't who he claimed long before the rest of us."

"Clever kid," Jack said.

Trying to force the memory of Seo's tortured screams and heart-felt sobbing from his mind.

(It never happened, anymore. For the outside world, none of that ever really happened.)

"Maybe… if I'd let Alison actually drop out of school and join up with Torchwood, like she wanted," Buffy mused, sadly, "the President would still be alive." She glanced at Jack. "Alison would have trusted Seo. She'd never have let your team shoot her down."

Jack visibly started at this. "Shoot her down?!"

Buffy said nothing for a long moment. A very, very long moment.

"Like you said," Buffy said, very quietly. "They were brainwashed. Doing what they thought was right. Trying to save the world." She closed her eyes, pain on her face. "Seo knew it, too. Was preparing for it." She shook her head. "I should have guessed. All the warning signs, everything that happened, everything Alison told me — I really, really should have guessed."

* * *

... xxx ...

* * *

April, 2008.

"And that," Seo announced, as the circular door to the Torchwood Hub rolled open, "is how you break into Torchwood Cardiff!"

She turned to her friend, beaming with pride.

Alison gave a small laugh. "And with all the computers and surveillance equipment, you don't think they're going to notice?"

"Oh, I've got an override code for that!" Seo replied. "It's easy! I got the idea from a friend." She paused. Hesitated. "All right, not a friend, exactly. More like… a psychotic Torchwood member who was doing her level best to kill me."

"Suzie," Alison remembered.

"That's the one!" Seo said, clapping in enthusiasm. She raced out into the center of the Hub. Calling after her, "All you have to do, to erase all the logs and surveillance equipment, is shout, 'Because I could not stop for Seo, she kindly stopped for me!'"

There was a whine and a hiss, and then all the video feeds cut out, all at once.

Seo spun back to Alison, waiting for the applause.

Alison just crossed her arms. "Because I could not stop for _Seo_?" she asked.

"Emily Dickinson's poems are a lot less depressing when you substitute in 'Seo' instead of 'Death'," said Seo. She reflected. "I mentioned that to Suzie, once. She hit me."

Alison grimaced.

Seo spun back around, and gestured for Alison to follow her. "Come on!" she called, racing off through the Hub. "I've got something to show you!"

* * *

Alison had assumed the 'something' would be a neat bit of alien tech. Or maybe a caged, live alien. But, as it turned out, they went all the way past the cell area. All the way down into the depths of the vaults. To a room that looked… a bit like the morgues on all those crime shows on telly.

Alison shivered against the cold air, down here.

"Frozen bodies, mostly," said Seo. "Not all dead." She made her way through the room, cautiously, slowly. Almost… respectfully. In stark contrast to her voice, which was still just as bouncy and upbeat as ever. "I saw them revive one of these, once. They let the body defrost, in open air. Then… injection."

Seo looked around, then spotted a small panel embedded in the wall. She hit it, and one of the pieces of floor trim slid aside to reveal a stash of syringes.

Seo glanced back at Alison, pointedly. Then hit the panel, again, and the floor trim slid back into place.

"Injected it right about… here," Seo explained, pointing to her own neck, as she scanned the rows upon rows of metal cabinets. "Then Owen just monitored the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. And… easy as that!" She grinned, as her eyes fell on one cabinet, in particular. "Ah! There you are!"

And, with a hearty yank, shoved open the drawer.

Alison, cautiously, made her way forward. Feeling a little uneasy about all this. "We're… unfreezing someone?"

"What?" asked Seo, pulling the white sheet off the frozen body. She saw Alison's unease, and gave a reassuring smile. "Oh. No. No, we're not defrosting him." She looked down at the nonhuman creature she'd just brought out. Her expression turning sad. Morose. "He's dead. Nothing we can do for him, now."

Alison came up beside the cadaver. The lifeless, furry face of the dead alien looking far from peaceful. It was matted with scars and bruises. Scrapes and cuts. The gashes of many long, infected wounds lining its body.

"Humans did that," Seo whispered. Her eyes on the alien. "He must have fallen through the rift — straight into the hands of a group of angry, worked-up humans just back from a Saxon rally, who were certain that invading aliens were about to kill them all." Seo pushed some of the alien's blood-caked fur out of its face, tenderly, as if he were still alive. "Torchwood found him, a few days ago. Tortured. Cut up. Beaten within an inch of his life." She looked up at Alison, the hints of tears in her eyes. "He was screaming. Confused and alone and in pain and screaming out for someone to help."

Alison wasn't sure what to say to this.

Seo looked down at the alien. "I'm sorry," she told the dead body. "I am so, so sorry."

"Torchwood… couldn't save it?" Alison asked.

"The Torchwood databases said his species could be dangerous," said Seo. "Hostile. Aggressive. Impossible to stop when provoked." Her eyes remained fixed on the alien's face. "They… got scared. Reacted. Told me… it was a 'mercy killing'."

Alison's mouth dried up.

"I thought… they were helping him," said Seo, in a small voice. "Or I would have stopped them."

Alison didn't know what to say. What to do. Why were they here? Were these things now invading, to take revenge, and Seo wanted to study this one? Was this some maudlin reflection on the state of the world?

Seo draped the white cloth back over the body. "They're just doing what they think is right," she said. "They're my friends, Alison. I know they'll always do what they think is right. I trust them to do it. It's what makes them good people. The best people." Her hands shook, a little, as she pushed the cabinet that housed the alien corpse closed. "Just… don't blame them, at the end of this. It's not their faults."

"Not their faults," Alison repeated. Deadpan. "Yeah. Because if an alien species is harmful, that means every single individual alien from the species deserves to die."

Seo said nothing.

"I'm just saying," Alison put in. "I mean, look at us. Humans. Humans are a pretty hostile species. With wars and such. But, individually, we're not that hostile at all."

"Except when you're scared," Seo said, almost too quietly to pick up, her hands still resting on the handle to the cabinet of the alien cadaver.

Alison frowned at Seo. Sensing… that something was wrong. Very, very wrong with her.

"Torchwood… likes to freeze the aliens they kill," said Seo, her voice slightly louder. "That's why this one's here."

Alison nodded.

"The problem," Seo continued, "is that… not all aliens just… die. Sometimes, when you shoot them, they… change. Regenerate. Sort of… burst into a bright light, and come back — different face, different accent, different personality. But same soul. Same memories. Same person, inside."

"Coming back from the dead?" asked Alison. She frowned. "What, you mean… like what you said happened to your mum?"

Seo pasted a smile on her face. Beamed at Alison. "No," she assured her. "No. Just… forget I said anything." She spun around, preparing to race out of the vaults. "Tell you what? Let's go shopping! There's some brilliant shopping round about Cardiff. We can—"

And that was when it hit Alison. All at once.

Why she was here.

Why Seo was showing her all of this.

She caught Seo by the arm, before she could run away. Stared her right in the eye.

"It's not… 'aliens' who change when they die," said Alison. "It's _you_."

Seo didn't answer. Just caught Alison's eyes with her own.

"You… think Torchwood is going to kill you," Alison said.

The demonstration on how to break into Torchwood. The lecture on how to revive frozen bodies. The way Seo had specifically shown her where the frozen bodies of aliens were kept.

She thought Torchwood would kill her. She'd wind up in here. And they'd have no idea that Seo had come back to life.

Or that she was even the same person.

"It's inevitable, now," said Seo, softly. Almost resigned. She looked down at the ground, with a little laugh. "I could tell you the date."

Alison shook her head. "No," she insisted. "No! I can't believe it! I've met Torchwood. You've met Torchwood! You're friends with them! They'd never—"

"They like to forget I'm not human," Seo cut in. "Like to think I'm just a harmless human-type kid." She nodded back at the freezers. "But just because they choose to forget doesn't mean they don't know. They're all well aware that I'm just as alien as our friend, back there." Her voice lowered, a hair. "And I'm very far from harmless."

That was true.

Alison didn't know how much Torchwood had seen, but she knew, by now, that the full extent of Seo's superpowers was… pretty frightening. She could open and destabilize rifts with her mind. Could turn an immortal, god-like entity inside out. Could stick her hand into someone's head and drain their brains completely dry. And… if this regeneration thing were true… she couldn't even be killed all that easily, either.

If Seo used those powers, for just one second, against humanity instead of for it…

"No, wait, hold up," said Alison. "Torchwood knows you. You've saved their lives, over and over again! They're your friends! Yes, they might be willing to perform a mercy-killing on an unknown alien that fell through the rift, but… if it were _you_…"

Seo grinned at Alison. "No. No, it won't be a mercy killing. Not for me. That's not how it'll happen."

Alison stared at her.

"Don't blame them," Seo said. "They'll think they're doing the right thing. And, if I've done my work well, they'll spend the rest of their lives thinking they've done the right thing."

"You think they're going to murder you," said Alison. "Purposely murder you, as an alien threat." She shook her head. "But… why? Why?!"

Seo shrugged.

Alison grabbed Seo up by the shoulders. Shook her. "Tell me!" she shouted. "What are you going to do? Why are they going to kill you? Why are you just letting them?"

Seo gave a small sigh. "Alison," she said. "I can't explain it. I really… just… can't."

Alison stopped shaking her. Stepped away.

Realizing what Seo meant.

"Just promise you'll get me out," Seo said, turning away from her friend, and heading back to the main Hub area. "Please. When I wake up, changed, and am trapped and frozen down here. Get me out."

* * *

The next time Alison came down to Cardiff, she did it alone.

Marched right into the tourist information center, at Roald Dahl Plass. Recognized… Ianto Jones, wasn't it?

"I'm dropping out of school," Alison told him. "So I can sign my soul away to Torchwood."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: So... yes. This story is about two separate incidents, before the Year that Never Was. This chapter finishes up the first incident, set in April of 2008. Next chapter, we'll get the second incident.

You've gotta love Alison for doing this. The sarcastic, slightly snarky, amazingly level-headed, ever-loyal Alison. Who insists on joining Torchwood even if that means giving up everything, just to protect her best friend.

Remember, at the end of this chapter, that... for Buffy, the world didn't end when the Master took over. For Buffy, the Master was instantly defeated by the Doctor and then shot by Lucy Saxon, and the whole thing was no big deal. Jack, of course, knows the full story.

(Anyone else notice that, in the Sound of Drums, it's May and Saxon's supposed to be talking to the President Elect of the United States? Which is _impossible_, since the US election happens in November, and the inauguration happens in January? Therefore, there can't be a President Elect in May. It is completely and utterly impossible.)

(I think the reason no one caught this is because US people don't have a clue when British elections are, so they didn't realize it was in May, and British people have no idea when US elections are, so they didn't realize the US election hadn't happened, yet. At least, that's my theory. Or maybe people just thought it was the President, not the President Elect.)

Anyways.

Enjoy!

* * *

The team had brought her down into the Hub. Talked the matter over with her. Talked it over at some length.

They'd established her qualifications, her credentials, assessed her computer skills and her ability to apply those skills to alien tech. Had even sent her out into the field, as a test run, and determined that… yes. Alison was just as capable up against aliens as she claimed she was.

Buffy had taught her well.

Now Alison had gone. And the team met, together, to talk the matter over.

"She's impressive," said Gwen. "Clever. Determined. Able to keep a level head in a crisis. And able to think through and work out a problem expertly. We have to give her that."

"Minimal training on our parts," Tosh added.

"And she already knows about Torchwood and what we do," said Ianto. "Having her be part of the group… would make that less of a problem."

Owen crossed his arms. "What I want to know is… why?" he asked them. "Why now? Why give up everything to work for us?"

No one said anything.

"She said it herself," said Owen. "Exceptional marks at school. Accepted to Oxford, for the fall. Only two months left before she gets her A-levels. And she's… just… dropping out. Giving up all of it."

"Well, maybe she wants to save the world," Gwen proposed. "Get paid to fight for…"

"And she couldn't wait two months?" Owen asked.

Everyone looked at everyone else. Not really sure what to say.

"If it were just about fighting aliens and saving the world," Owen said, "she'd stay in London, and do it there. No, I think she's up to something. Wants access to something we keep locked up here at Torchwood, that she can't get anywhere else."

"With her relationship with the Summers family, that doesn't seem terribly likely," Tosh put in.

"Unless…" Ianto hesitated. "She doesn't want them to know."

Once again, everyone looked at everyone else. Uneasily.

"I better… contact Buffy," Ianto offered, heading off for the phone. "Let her know about this."

* * *

Buffy knew why.

The moment she heard what had happened, the moment she heard from Torchwood about Alison's visit, Buffy knew exactly why Alison had done it.

"Jack's gone," Buffy explained to the Torchwood team. "And it's pretty clear he's not coming back. Even Seo's finally accepted that." She sighed. "That's why Alison's joining up now."

Torchwood didn't quite understand this explanation.

"Let me talk to her," Buffy said.

So she did.

Got Seo distracted with something else, and met up with Alison in private. Where they couldn't be overheard. And told Alison… what Torchwood had explained to her.

And that she knew why Alison was doing it.

"You don't have to do this," Buffy told her.

Alison shot Buffy a pointed look. "You know why I do."

Buffy didn't answer.

"Seo's right," said Alison. Her eyes drifting across the Summers' apartment, to Buffy's abandoned cell phone. "It's the way Torchwood thinks. The way they act. Alien equals bad in their book. They see an alien in pain, tortured, used, and abused by humans — and they honestly believe they're doing the right thing by killing it."

"I can stop that, when I'm around," said Buffy. "I can—"

"But you're not exactly a hundred percent human yourself," Alison pointed out. She shrugged. "Super strength. Super reflexes. If they're panicked enough to call Seo a threat, if they see how alien she actually is — what do you think they'll say about you?"

Buffy wasn't sure how to answer this.

"Jack's gone," said Alison. "The other Torchwood members — they like Seo, yes. But I don't think they… _believe_ in her. Not like Jack did."

No. Probably not.

"Seo _has_ been on surprisingly good behavior at Torchwood, since Jack left," Buffy muttered.

"Seo is… instinctive," said Alison. "Unable to explain why she does what she does. Sometimes not even able to explain what she's doing at all. She saves the world — saves it brilliantly, by breaking all the rules. Using a great big bunch of items she shouldn't be using. And making them do something they shouldn't be able to do."

Yes, that was basically how Seo worked.

"And when she knows it's right," Alison continued, "really knows, with every fiber of her being, that it will work — she doesn't offer an explanation. Not to anyone. Not even when it _looks_ like what she's doing is super duper dangerous. Because she's acting on instinct, and just can't explain."

Buffy said nothing.

"It's inevitable," said Alison. "You know it. I know it. Seo knows it. One of these days, Seo's going to save the world. And Torchwood's going to shoot her for it."

"Shoot," said Buffy. "Not kill."

"And when that doesn't stop her?" said Alison.

Buffy said nothing. Knowing… Alison… was probably right.

"And… Seo told me what would happen," Alison added, softly, "if she actually died. The… face-changing thing."

Damn.

Buffy hadn't even thought about that.

Another alien trait that she and Seo had both decided it was probably best if only Jack ever knew about.

"Seo's right," said Alison. "With Jack gone, it's only a matter of time before she winds up in the freezers. Or they panic and kill her over and over again, until she's really dead. It's inevitable."

Buffy said nothing for a long moment. Just letting this all sink in.

Alison looked off into the distance. A thoughtful expression on her face.

"And the most amazing thing is… she still trusts them," said Alison. "And she still races off to help them. Still thinks they're the best people to defend the world. Some of the best people she knows." She shook her head. "How can they not see that that's something special?"

"They do," said Buffy. "Really, they do! And if she was ever in danger, they'd be the first to jump out and rescue her. It's… just…" She looked off into the distance. "People do things when they're scared. Things they later regret."

Remembering when she'd been fighting the First, had just figured out that there really was a super-weapon hidden around Sunnydale — and had wound up getting chewed out and then kicked out of the house by her own friends.

Remembering what Giles had so nearly let happen to Spike, just because of that fear and worry.

"It's bad enough with stakes and swords and things," said Buffy. "But with Torchwood guns…" She gave a little shrug. "Both she and I have decided. It's safer if Torchwood doesn't know how alien she really is."

It was why she and Seo had decided not to mention regeneration to Torchwood at all.

"How alien is she?" Alison asked.

"No one really knows," Buffy confessed. "Not Torchwood. Not me. Not Seo's father. Not even Seo, herself."

Alison looked down at the ground.

"She's part Slayer," Buffy said, "part human, part Time Lord, part inter-dimensional Key, and part Hell Goddess. She's alien, Alison. _Really_ alien. _Really_ powerful. And insanely dangerous."

Alison didn't answer.

"But that's not _who_ she is," said Buffy. "You know that. The caring, the compassion, the empathy, the love and brilliance and concern for those around her — that's Seo. Her soul."

"And that's why," said Alison. Determination in her eyes. "Why I have to join Torchwood. Right now. Before it's too late. Because I have to be there, all the time. I have to make sure… there's someone on the team that knows her. Really knows her. And trusts her to do the right thing."

Buffy looked askance at Alison. "You do know the average Torchwood employee dies after about five years on the job?"

Alison nodded. "They told me."

"That means, even if you're trying to protect Seo," Buffy explained, "you'll only get five years to do it. Maybe less."

"A lot can happen in five years," said Alison. She shrugged. "Maybe I can make them… understand. Believe in Seo. Believe in the good stuff. Maybe… I can even show them not all aliens have to be killed."

"Or maybe not," Buffy said.

"I'll never know if I don't try."

Buffy felt her heart reach out to Alison. To brave, strong, noble Alison, who was willing to give up her A-levels, Oxford, the chance at normality, and even the entire rest of her life — just to make sure nothing happened to her best friend.

Buffy pat Alison on the back. "Make it an internship."

Alison glanced over at Buffy, frowning. "What?"

"You've got two months left before you finish high school," Buffy pointed out. "Nothing's going to happen in two months."

"You never know," said Alison.

Buffy shot Alison a stubborn look. "_I_ know," she said. "Nothing's going to happen in two months. Even if that means I have to sleep in the Hub and be on-call every second of every day for the next sixty days — I'll make sure. _Nothing_ is going to happen in the next two months."

Alison looked away, an involuntary laugh passing through her lips.

"Sign the papers, put yourself on their register, do everything you have to do," said Buffy. "But while you're in school — and later, when you're in college — just make it… an internship. A summer job." She smiled. "They'll like that. An extended training session. I'll talk to my contacts, make sure the paperwork is all spiffy and stuff. I can make this happen for you."

Alison looked like she couldn't quite believe what Buffy was saying. She glanced over at Buffy. "But… but Torchwood's willing to hire me without Oxford," she said. "Why…?"

"Because when I was your age, I made that choice," said Buffy. "To drop out of college so I could save the universe — and my sister. And now…" She gave a small laugh. "The best non-alien-fighting job I can get is flipping burgers at the Doublemeat Palace."

Alison raised her eyebrows at Buffy. "What, really?"

(Buffy was one of the cleverest people she knew.)

Buffy nodded. "Just… trust me," she said. "If you think you have to work at Torchwood, I can make sure you wind up working at Torchwood. But don't give up your education. Don't make that mistake."

"And what if something happens while I'm at university?" Alison said. "What if—"

"If you're part of the team, even just part-time, they'll listen to you," said Buffy. "And if I wind up dead, and Seo winds up frozen… you can still get her out. But this'll give you an extra four years before the whole five-year-survival-rate thing actually starts."

Alison absorbed this, thoughtfully. Then gave Buffy a sideways smile. "Why are you doing all this for me?"

"You're my daughter's Scooby," Buffy said, a little defensively. "It's my duty to look after you, right?"

Alison gave a little laugh, shaking her head. "You know," she said, leaning back on the couch, "sometimes, it feels like you're looking out for me more than my actual mum."

* * *

... xxx ...

* * *

After the Valiant, 2008.

"Maybe Alison was right," said Buffy, hands on her knees. "I mean, the President would probably still be alive, if she'd dropped out and joined Torchwood right away. If Alison had actually been in the Hub on election day, and not in school. But… she's got a bright future ahead of her, Jack. I couldn't just let her give that up."

Jack said nothing.

Remembering that — for him, only a week ago — the fatality count had been much more than just the President.

But that had all gotten reversed.

"You did the right thing," Jack assured Buffy. "Good for you." He paused, thinking it over. "Good for us, too. Getting her signed up on our team. Great catch."

Buffy met Jack's grin with her own. "You know… when I tell you the rest of this story," she said, "you're going to think Seo was all with the overreaction. But… I dunno. I think she honestly believed that if Saxon got elected, the world would end."

Jack said nothing.

"Just… remember," said Buffy. "This is what she's prepared to do. To save your team. To save her friends. To save the world."

Jack was silent for a long time. A long, long time.

Then, in a half-whisper, "Yes."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: And the next part.

The thing about the winter coats is totally understandable to anyone who's lived their whole life in California.

Enjoy!

* * *

Election day, 2008.

"So? Who did you vote for?" Owen asked, as Gwen walked into the Hub, suitcase packed and winter gear in hand.

"That's private," Gwen informed him, parking her suitcase with the others.

"Harold Saxon," said Owen, nodding. "Thought so."

Gwen shot him a look, then walked over to the computers, where Tosh was still working on typing in the code she needed to make sure the Hub was secured while they were away.

"Well, I was going to vote for the other one," Ianto said, slouched in the doorway, hands in his pockets, "but with the splendid holiday venues Mr. Saxon chooses to send us to, he swayed my opinion."

Ianto's luggage was filled to bursting with heavy coats, mittens, scarves, anything he could find.

"Afraid you'll feel a little chilly in the Himalayas?" Owen asked Ianto.

"Never hurts to be prepared," said Ianto.

Tosh gave a small laugh, beneath her breath. She knew as well as the rest of them that Ianto had packed triple the amount of winter-gear, because Buffy — upon hearing that she needed a higher rated winter coat to bring to the Himalayas — had said, "Wait, coats have ratings?!"

Which meant that Buffy was probably going to be freezing.

And Seo wasn't going to be much better.

"Where is Buffy?" asked Gwen. Checking her watch. "I thought she'd be here, by now."

Owen hit a few buttons at the computer nearest him. And brought up the CCTV footage for right outside the Plass.

"There," he said.

Buffy was rolling a suitcase along the Plass, and speaking very animatedly, it looked like, to herself.

"You know… airport security is going to be a nightmare with Seo," Owen muttered. "Moment they notice she doesn't show up on anything… we're all going on the No Fly list."

"I've got some tricks up my sleeve," Tosh assured him. "She'll be fine."

* * *

"Sorry we're late," said Buffy, entering the Hub with Seo beside her. "Traffic was a nightmare. Did you know there's an election on, today? I thought that was supposed to be in November."

Everyone looked at Buffy, blankly.

"You know, Tuesday after the first Monday in…?" Buffy stopped. Sighed. "Whatever. Never mind." She turned to Ianto. "Do you have an extra coat? Seo forgot to pack one."

Seo didn't say a word. Didn't even look at them, her eyes fixed on the floor, a pensive frown on her face.

"Two extras," Ianto told her, nodding at his luggage.

Buffy swept Ianto into a tight hug. "I don't know how I survived without you."

Gwen stood up, in the center of the Hub. Clapped to get their attention. "Right!" she called out. "Owen, pack up the med-lab equipment we'll need. Tosh, finish up here. Yan, you're with me in the armory. And you two…" Turning to Buffy and Seo, "…think you can handle a weevil?"

"Easy," said Buffy.

"Then you get to fill up the automatic feeding dispenser systems in the cells," said Gwen. "Everyone clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Flight leaves in seven hours," said Gwen, heading towards the armory with Ianto. "Allowing for time for Seo to fail airport security and us to manage to talk them out of arresting her, everyone should meet back here in two hours to go to the airport."

Tosh paused in her work, as she noticed the lights flickering, down in the freezers. The lights… and the cameras. She checked the readings. The freezers were all… failing. Massively failing. For no discernible reason.

Tosh sighed. Everyone else was busy. That left her.

She got up from the computers.

"Freezers seem to be malfunctioning — odd power readings," she told the others, tapping her earpiece. "I'll take care of it."

"Don't need your life story, Tosh," came Owen's voice.

Tosh turned off her headset. Trying to shake off Owen's words. And went down to the freezers.

* * *

Seo was holding the weevil back, as Buffy finished filling up the food dispenser unit in the cell.

"And then I talked to Angel," Buffy continued. "And he told me about this monastery he went to, in the Himalayas, that was all with the tranquility. So they might know something about where this thing landed."

Seo didn't answer.

"So… uh… yeah," said Buffy, as she finished. "To conclude. Himalayas. Alien spaceship. Super big on the mystery factor." She turned, yanked the weevil out of Seo's grip, and tossed it back into the cell. Then slammed the door.

And crossed her arms.

"And why with the silent treatment?" Buffy asked.

Seo didn't answer.

"I mean, Himalayas, right?" said Buffy. "Yay? Himalayas?" She sighed, shook her head. "Why am _I_ more excited than you? I'm never more excited than you when we go new places. You're always going all with the bubbly personality, while I'm—"

"I love you," Seo said.

Buffy stopped. Stared. A feeling of real worry beginning to spring up inside of her.

"Okay," she demanded. "What's going—?"

But she didn't have time to finish, as Seo grabbed her up, jerked her off her feet, and threw her into the empty cell with the steel door. Threw her hard enough that Buffy crashed to the ground with a thud that shook through her whole body.

"Seo, what…?" Buffy asked, flipping back to her feet, and launching herself towards the door.

Seo slammed it in her face. Locked it.

Buffy tried activating her earpiece. Found it wasn't working. Looked up at Seo, who was still standing there, in front of the door, looking in at her.

Buffy banged her fists against the door. Kicked it, with all her strength. "Seo!"

Seo looked in at her, a completely unreadable expression on her face.

Then mouthed the word — "Goodbye."

Turned.

And left.

"Seo!" Buffy screamed after her.

* * *

"We'll definitely be needing these," said Gwen, taking out two alien guns, and looking down the sights. "Just in case of trouble."

A surge of power rippled through the walls of the Hub, the floors humming beneath their feet.

"What…?" Gwen started.

Then the door swung shut, and clicked locked.

"That shouldn't happen," said Ianto. Noticing the lights still working, around them. "No lockdown initiated."

Gwen activated her earpiece. "Tosh? Owen? Buffy? What's going on?"

No answer.

Ianto and Gwen exchanged worried glances.

"Looks like trouble came early," Ianto said.

Gwen shoved her shoulder against the door. It didn't give. Tried again, harder. Still, nothing. Then tried shooting the door with her gun. Still, nothing from the door.

The floor hummed a little more.

And Gwen and Ianto realized. Something was very, very wrong. And they were trapped right where they couldn't stop it.

* * *

Owen felt the sudden hum of power around him, too. Looked up, and found the door suddenly snapping shut, locking in place.

And behind it, Seo. Looking in at him, through the transparent super-plastic of the medical bay area.

He stared at her. His heart beating a little too fast.

The way she looked, in that moment, staring in at him, was just… so… _alien_. As if every shred of humanity had been burned away from her, and she was left with nothing that they could even comprehend.

She rested her hand against the super-plastic. An impassiveness in her eyes. Determination running through her.

"Goodbye," she said.

Then she turned.

And walked back into the Hub. Straight towards the rift manipulator.

Owen sprung for the door. Tried to open it, but couldn't. Tried to activate his earpiece, but it wasn't working. Tried forcing his way out, but couldn't even manage that!

She'd planned this, Owen realized. Planned this out perfectly. Right from the beginning.

And they'd been such idiots to believe she was at all like them. At all human.

_Goodbye_.

As Owen watched her mess around with the rift manipulator, use it to channel waves of golden, shimmering energy down into the Hub, pulsing across the walls and floors, reverberating through the air, he knew. Exactly what Seo was up to.

She was ending the world.

* * *

"Hello?" Tosh called, her hand against her ear. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

No answer.

As the waves of energy seemed to ripple through the floor. Across the walls. As lights blinked on and off, and a powerful feeling of energy grew in the air.

Tosh took the earpiece off. Examined it. Whatever these power fluctuation buildups were, they weren't affecting most of the rest of the power to the Hub. The lights, a little. But not that much. No, what it seemed to be mainly doing… was jamming the phones.

No, not… all phones. Not all communications systems.

Just the wireless signal.

Tosh grabbed up her headset, and then raced to the intercom wires, that were installed nearby. Connecting every section of the Hub to every other section of the Hub. She fumbled with the two devices, fiddling about with them, so she could hook them up. Connect them together.

A crackle. Then… success!

"Gwen?" said Tosh. "Ianto? Owen? Buffy? If you can hear me, wire your headsets into the intercom system. So we can talk."

She then described, very simply, exactly how to do it.

Another crackle, then Gwen's voice. "Tosh? We're in the armory. Locked in."

"We're all bloody locked in," came Owen's voice. "It's Seo. She's flipped. I can see her, right now. She's rewiring the rift manipulator. She's making all of this happen."

"Can she hear us?" asked Ianto.

"Oh, she can hear every word," said Owen. "I don't think she cares. We're out of the way, and that's good enough for her."

"Where's Buffy?" Gwen asked.

Silence.

"Buffy!" Gwen shouted. "Buffy! Are you there? Answer!"

Still, silence.

Something deep down inside of Tosh froze. Because the only reason Buffy wouldn't be answering… is if she couldn't. If she was dead.

And she was the only one strong enough to have a hope of stopping Seo.

"Seo wouldn't," Ianto insisted. "Buffy's… her mum."

"I think you're all forgetting," snapped Owen, "she's an alien. She doesn't think like us. Doesn't act like us. Doesn't see the world the same way we do. Just because she's clever enough to act human doesn't mean she's going to fight on our side every step of the way."

"But she'd never—" Tosh started.

"Look, lovely as this chat is," Owen interrupted, "would you all bloody shut up and figure out how to stop her, already? Because if you don't… we're all going to be just as dead as Buffy."

* * *

"I'm here!" Buffy shouted. She hit her hand against the wall of the cell, irritated. "Can't you hear me?! I'm in here! I'm still alive!"

Damn.

They didn't.

No, looked like she was the only one locked up somewhere that didn't have intercom connectivity. The only reason she could hear anything, at all, was because the sound was echoing in through the patches where she'd managed to slightly dislodge the door.

Slightly.

Buffy launched another flip-kick at the door. And again. And again!

What the hell was Seo thinking, locking her in here?! Didn't Seo realize that, without Buffy around to calm the others down, she was going to get shot?! Didn't Seo realize that…?!

A sudden wave of terror ran through Buffy.

As she remembered what Alison had said.

And the last things Seo had told her, before throwing her in here.

_I love you._

_Goodbye_.

"Oh, no," said Buffy, throwing herself at the door, even harder. "No, no, no! You can't do this! I won't let this happen!"

One day, Alison had said, Seo would save the world. And Torchwood would shoot her for it.

And that day… was today.


	4. Chapter 4

Ianto was searching through the armory. Searching, frantically, digging through weapons.

"What are you…?" Gwen asked.

Ianto pulled something out, showed it to her. "Small magnetic field disruptor," he said. His eyes glanced up at the door, at the blinking gadget securing them inside. One that had to be disabled, on both sides of the door.

"Not powered up," Ianto noted, fiddling around with the field disruptor. "Safety precaution. Wouldn't work if the Hub was on actual lockdown. But there's more than enough power flowing through the walls, at the moment…"

Gwen offered him a leg up, and he attached the generator to the blinking gadget securing the doors.

Then stood back, with Gwen.

As the device charged up.

* * *

Tosh knew it was morbid. But she remembered the big-fanged beast that had been killed, last week. Then frozen and left down here.

The big-fanged beast with teeth that could rip even through metal.

She grabbed it up, lugged it across the freezers, gritting her teeth and pulling with all of her might. Then thrust the fang through the hinge of the door.

It gave.

Again, she thrust. And again! And again!

Until the door clanged down to the ground, and Tosh could get free.

* * *

It had been a chemistry lesson that had saved Owen's life.

He scrambled through the lab, grabbing up the ingredients he needed. Mixing them all together, in a glass beaker, heating it up to exactly the right temperature to make sure the chemical reactions happened the way they should.

Reinforced super-plastic it might be.

But plastic was still plastic. And this plastic — Owen happened to know how to dissolve.

"Here goes nothing," said Owen, as he threw the beaker against the plastic window of the door.

* * *

Seo was seated in the Hub. Typing at the computers. The rift manipulator rippling energy across the Hub. The floor humming with power. Her eyes just fixed, intently, on the computer screen in front of her.

She didn't pause in her work. Not for a second.

Not even when the sounds of four guns cocking echoed around her.

"Seo," said Gwen, "step away from the computers."

Seo didn't answer. Didn't acknowledge her, at all. Just continued.

"We don't want to hurt you," Gwen tried. "Just stop. Talk this through. We can—"

"Yes, you do," said Seo, in a small voice. "You want to kill me. And you don't know why."

"I've got a pretty good idea of why," Owen growled.

Gwen glanced at Tosh, whose eyes were fixed on the computer monitors, in growing horror.

"Tosh," said Gwen. "What's she doing?"

"She's taking down everything!" Tosh said. "A virus, disabling every defense system this planet has! UNIT! Home Office! Ministry of Defense! We're going to be a sitting target for anyone that comes by!"

Ianto lunged for Seo, trying to wrestle her away from the computers, but Seo shrugged him off, easily, slamming him back against the ground with enough force to make him wince.

Gwen took the shot.

Seo jerked. Spasmed. Her shoulder seeping the wrong color blood. But her eyes remained fixed. Her jaw clenched, as if fighting off the pain, as she forced herself to continue typing. Forced herself to finish the program.

"She's possessed," Tosh whispered.

"Nothing else left to do, then," said Owen. Aiming his own gun right at her head. "Sorry about this, kid."

The shot went wide, as he was tackled to the ground by a blond blur, charging through the air from behind them. A blond blur who leapt up, and stood in front of Seo, her eyes blazing.

Buffy.

"Put the guns down," she demanded. "Now."

Everyone at Torchwood was shocked to see her, again. But didn't lower the guns.

"She's taking down all of Earth's defenses!" Tosh shouted at Buffy. "Whatever's just landed in the Himalayas — she's letting it take over! She's letting it invade!"

Buffy hesitated. Looking back at Seo.

"Mom," said Seo, in a very small voice, as she finished typing. "I'm sorry."

Then tapped the enter key. And sent the program out.

Buffy, her eyes narrow, clonked Seo across the head. The girl wavered, then slumped over, and crumpled to the ground, unconscious, at Buffy's feet.

Tosh immediately pushed past and launched herself at the computer. Typing, wildly, trying to figure out how to undo the damage.

Ianto and Owen raced towards the rift manipulator, trying to figure out how to reverse whatever she'd done, there.

Gwen just lowered the gun. Looking at Buffy and the unconscious Seo. Trying to come to terms with the fact that… she'd shot someone. Someone who'd been part of the team. Someone she'd trusted.

She'd shot Seo. Who'd saved her life time and time again.

How could she have done that?!

"Got rid of the virus," Tosh told the others. "All of Earth's defenses are fully back online. But... I think this goes a lot deeper than that. A lot deeper than all of it." She continued typing, continued looking through code. "She's been planning this for months. Been tapping into and fiddling about with everything. Trying to hide some other program, hooked into the rest of the Hub's systems."

Gwen shook her head. Guilt-trip later. Save the world, now. "Owen, what's she done to—?"

"Well, it's not a rift manipulator, anymore," said Owen. "It's channeling rift energy. Channeling it across every metallic surface in the Hub."

"Must be to power up this," said Tosh, as she found the embedded, hidden file, in the Torchwood systems. "Some sort of… brainwashing device. Using and reflecting the energy from the rift in order to beam a message up to..."

Tosh stopped. Her jaw dropping open.

"The Archangel Network," she breathed.

"Wait, what?" said Buffy, suddenly standing up straight.

"She's brainwashing us," said Tosh. "Using our phones. Using the satellites."

"But… Archangel extends across the entire world," said Gwen. "And Seo was trying to take down all the defenses."

"To facilitate an alien invasion," proposed Owen.

"Or cause one," Tosh added. "If it were a mind parasite, trying to use Seo's skill-set to spread its influence."

"No, wait, but… this is impossible!" shouted Buffy. "Seo's _terrible_ at brainwashing-type things! If she was going to end the world, she'd never do it like this! She'd—"

"I don't care if it's possible or not!" Gwen shouted back. "We have to stop it!"

"Parabolic," Ianto muttered.

Gwen spun around. "What?"

"The Hub. It's parabolic," Ianto explained. "Power gathering across all the metallic surfaces would be used as an amplifier, pointing right to the focus." He grabbed up one of the mega-alien guns that he and Gwen had been preparing to pack for the Himalayas. "Which would be… right about…"

He fired.

Something hanging in the center of the Hub, that none of them had seen or even noticed before, sparked.

Then collapsed to the ground.

Destroyed.

All power to the Hub cut out. And everything fell silent.

As Seo's plan ended.

* * *

"No," Buffy said, as they were putting everything back. "I don't believe it. I won't. I can't."

"Which is why you knocked her out?" said Owen.

Buffy hesitated. She… didn't know exactly why she'd done that. But there'd just been this horrible fear that had sprouted up inside of her, in that one second. A certainty that all this had to be stopped.

"Face it, Buffy," Owen said, as he removed the bullet from Seo's back. "Your daughter flipped out and tried to destroy the world. We all saw it. So did you."

"But she'd never destroy the world!" Buffy insisted. "I know her!"

"Actually, she's nearly destroyed the world countless times," Ianto pointed out, repairing the rift manipulator. "Always by accident. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she honestly didn't know what she was doing."

Owen sighed. Then wiped the blood off his hands, and went over to the luggage. "Allow me to demonstrate," he said.

In a single movement, he unzipped Seo's suitcase, and shoved it open.

To reveal… nothing.

An empty suitcase.

"She didn't even pack," Owen pointed out to them. "Whatever happened here, today, it wasn't an accident. She knew this was going to happen. And she knew we'd kill her for it."

Buffy said nothing. Her eyes still fixed on Seo.

"Buffy's right, though," said Gwen, dismantling the brainwashing device and destroying the components. "I can't believe she'd do something like this. It's just… not… her."

"She would if something got to her, first," Tosh pointed out, trying to delete Seo's many programs from the Torchwood mainframe. "She's impervious to scans, impervious to machines, impervious to anything that could detect if there was something wrong with her. But she's not impervious to drugs, organic forms of mind-control, and that sort of thing. If an alien race out there wanted to infiltrate Torchwood — she'd be the best way to do it."

"An alien race like… the one that's in the Himalayas?" Ianto guessed.

"That's my thought," said Tosh.

"So… why didn't she kill us?" Gwen asked. She pointed at Seo. "You've seen her, out in the field! You've seen what she can do! If she were brainwashed, she wouldn't have locked us up. She'd have just killed us, to make sure she could succeed in her work!"

Buffy looked down at the unconscious Seo. A sad expression on her face. "No," she said, very quietly. "She wouldn't. If there was something in her head — she'd have done everything in her power to make sure it didn't hurt any of you."

"If she's dangerous, even just temporarily, we should lock her up," Ianto decided. "Make sure—"

"She can get out of any prison cell we put her in," said Tosh. "We learned that before."

"Looks like it's the freezers for Little Miss Alien," said Owen.

Buffy interposed herself in between Owen and Seo, in an instant. "No. Never."

"The freezing process still isn't quite working right, anyways, at the moment," Tosh admitted. "Seo took the freezers down just before she started her plan. We won't be able to freeze her before we have to leave."

Gwen nodded, officiously. "Good." She crossed her arms. "Because I want some answers."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: And the end!

Oh, Seo is so smart in this story. Especially what she does here. She's so close to succeeding, but... as one reviewer put it... the overall Whoverse plot is not on her side.

Too bad.

(Poor Jack, too.)

For our next story, entitled "Boyfriendish", we're going to depart from the real universe, and take a trip into an alternate timeline. The next story focuses on Seo's parents - her actual birth parents, namely the alternate versions of the Doctor and Buffy. It will be much more of an "Adventures of a Line Hopper" type story than a "Child of Balime" type story. But will be essential for understanding "the Years that Never Were."

"Hindsight" very nicely sets up what Seo and Buffy's situation is, in the real universe (which I call "Martha's World") at the beginning of "the Years that Never Were".

"Boyfriendish" will set up the alternate Doctor and alternate Buffy's situation in the alternate timeline universe (which I call "Seo's World") at the beginning of the same story.

Don't worry! This story might be a downer (I labelled it a tragedy), but Boyfriendish is actually has a pretty happy ending. And the Doctor and Buffy are such a cute couple together! I totally love Seo's parents!

* * *

They locked Seo up in the interrogation room, the moment she awoke.

Now she sat there. Slumped over, sitting on the chair. Her hands clutching the seat. Her head bent. Her back sloping in an arc. Not saying a word.

"Why?" Gwen demanded.

No answer.

"We trusted you!" said Gwen. "And you betrayed that trust completely."

Still silence.

Gwen felt her anger melting, a little, as her own sense of guilt crept up on her, again. She'd shot Seo down, hadn't she? No wonder the girl didn't want to talk to her. Yes, Gwen had only shot her in the shoulder, but… at that moment, when Gwen had done it… she'd really, _really_ wanted to shoot Seo dead. Everything inside of her was screaming at her to kill Seo outright.

No.

No! That… just… didn't feel like something Gwen would think. Something she'd feel.

Did it?

Gwen sat down at the interrogation table, trying to look into Seo's eyes. Trying to give her a sympathetic look.

"I know you feel like the outsider, sometimes," Gwen said. "But… we've always thought of you as part of the team. If you—"

The door opened, and the rest of the Torchwood team walked in. Stood along the far wall of the interrogation room, arms crossed, eyes glaring.

"Okay," said Buffy. "We've turned off the cameras. Now talk."

Gwen looked back at them, confused. "You—?"

Buffy nodded over at Seo. "That," she said, "is Seo's instinctive 'I don't want cameras to see me' routine."

"So go on," said Owen. Shooting Seo a challenging look. "Answer. Why'd you do it?"

Seo just remained slumped over, her hands clutching the seat of her chair, her eyes fixed down onto the ground, her body forming a perfect arc.

Then, in a barely audible voice, "I don't blame you, Gwen."

Gwen seemed puzzled. "You…?"

Seo shot her head up, snapping her eyes up to the rest of them, suddenly. The look in her eyes, the look on her face, everything about her seeming suddenly… alien. Different. Unnatural.

"I'm alien," she told them, in a louder voice. "The enemy. You should lock me up."

Everyone stared at her. Their jaws falling open.

"You're not Seo," Tosh said. Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I told you what I want," said Seo, her voice calm, even, and deadly serious. "I want you to lock me up. And guard me. Very closely. In person."

Buffy sighed, slumped against the wall. "No, that's definitely Seo," she said. "That's her trying to pull something." She glanced over at her daughter. "So what is it? What are you up to?"

Seo didn't answer. Just dropped her head down, again, eyes on the floor.

"Just tell us," said Gwen. "We're your friends. Don't you trust us?"

Still, no answer.

"Was this some… mistake of yours?" Tosh asked. "Or an external influence inside your mind? Or is someone making you do this, by threatening your mum or Alison?"

Silence, again.

"All right, that's it, I've had enough of this," said Owen, turning on his heels. "Fully functional or not, I say it's the freezers for her."

"I'd rather you just killed me," Seo replied.

Owen stopped in his tracks. Spun back around, staring at her.

Everyone else, nearby, stared at her, as well. Equally shocked.

"I know you all want to," said Seo. She looked over at Buffy. "Except… maybe Mom. But the rest of you want to kill me. A lot. And you still don't understand why."

"What's wrong with you?" Tosh said.

Seo just gave a small, humorless laugh. One that almost sounded like a sob. "What's wrong with _me_," she whispered. "What's wrong with _me_."

Buffy frowned. Opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Thought better of it.

"Do you know what I am?" Seo asked. A glimmer in her eyes. "Do you have any idea how my brain works? Every single time I see something new, my mind tries to figure out how to destroy it."

"Seo, don't—!" Buffy started.

"I could destroy this world fifty thousand different ways," Seo cut in, before Buffy could go on. "With no weapons or tools at all. Just using me, my knowledge, my intellect. My abilities. That's it. And none of you would have the first idea how to stop me."

All eyes had fallen on Buffy, who was standing at the side of the interrogation room, a look of utter horror on her face. Not sure what to say, what to do.

"They should know, Mom," said Seo. "After all, I'm not just part alien. I'm part Hell Goddess." Her eyes bore into them, a fire burning inside of her corneas. "So lock me up. Arm yourselves. Prepare your strongest weapons. Get ready for the apocalypse I've been planning, because — it's coming. And Torchwood won't be clever enough to stop it."

Gwen analyzed her, closely. Then leaned in, across the table. Asked, in a very low voice, "What are you afraid of?"

Seo jerked her head over to Gwen, a wide eyed look on her face. She was breathing heavily, steadily, the exact same determination set into her jaw.

"You want us to lock you up," said Gwen. "Guard you. I don't think you're trying to end the world at all. I don't think you ever wanted that plan of yours to work. I think this is all just some act, so you can make sure we protect you."

Seo gritted her teeth in frustration. "No," she said. Her hands clenching around the seat of her chair. "You're not listening. Why aren't you listening?! I am an evil alien threat. I'm going to end the world." She spoke her next words slowly, pointedly. "So stay here, guard me — or just kill me, I don't care — and prepare to stop an apocalypse."

"Who's after you?" Gwen asked. Then, with a hint of hesitation, "Is it someone… human? Because you're alien?"

"This isn't about me!" shouted Seo, pounding her fists on the table. "Don't you get it? Every single one of you, you're all in…!"

Seo stopped herself. Bit her lower lip. And retreated back into her slumped over form.

Buffy just kept staring. Her brain working overtime. "You don't want us to go to the Himalayas."

Seo didn't answer.

"That's what this is about, isn't it?" said Buffy. "It's why you're delaying us. Trying to make us stay behind and guard you. Or kill you. It's because… you don't want us to leave."

"I told you, I'm an alien threat," said Seo, frustration edging her voice. "And I need you to stay here and prepare for the end of the world. Why won't you listen to me?"

"Why doesn't she want us to go—?" Tosh asked.

"Because she's worked something out," Buffy answered. Eyes lingering on her daughter's slumped over form. "Something we all missed. And, for some reason, she can't actually tell us about it, directly. This is her current strategy, to try to make us understand what's going on."

A tired, worn smile touched Seo's lips. "Finally," she whispered.

Gwen studied her, carefully. Noting the way Seo's hands still shook, just that little bit. The tension in her shoulders. The way her eyes moved. It was enough to tell Gwen something important.

Whatever this thing was that she'd worked out, it had something to do with the Himalaya trip.

And it _terrified_ her.

* * *

They left Seo in the interrogation room. Then sat around, trying to figure out what to do. Trying to work out what they could do, in the little time they had left before their flight.

"So… Seo's worked something out," said Owen. "About our Himalaya trip. And she can't tell us… why, exactly?"

"Either it's a hunch she's sure of, but can't explain how she knows," said Buffy, "or she doesn't feel she actually knows enough to be able to tell us anything definite."

"Or she's been taken over by an alien mind parasite," said Gwen, "who's making her unable to tell us."

Buffy shook her head, elbows resting on the table, in front of her.

"Gwen's theory actually does make a lot of sense," Tosh put in. "We all know Seo would never do anything like this, normally."

"I think whatever landed in the Himalayas sent a scout ahead," Gwen proposed. "A scout that infected Seo's mind. It made her try to destroy the world—"

"Which is why she kept telling us we had to kill her to stop her," Ianto added.

"—and now she's frantically attempting to warn us of the danger, before we get to the Himalayas," Gwen concluded. "So we can be fully prepared."

Buffy sighed. "No, the killing thing is… just… another delay tactic."

If Seo regenerated, the entire Torchwood team would go major on the freak-out. They'd try to figure out what happened, whether it was normal or some weird outside influence, and whether or not Seo was still the same person.

Plus, the regeneration sickness.

Yeah, there was no doubt about it. If Seo regenerated, no one at Torchwood was going to the Himalayas. End of story.

"She's definitely afraid of something in the Himalayas," Buffy confirmed. "Some big threat that she thinks is going to end the world. But… I don't think she's trying to warn you to be prepared." She fidgeted, uneasily. "I think she honestly doesn't want you to go. She wants you to stay here."

"Why?" said Tosh.

"Oh, that's going deep into Seo-mindscape-land," said Buffy, with a laugh. She shrugged. "Because she thinks you wouldn't be able to handle it, yet? Because she wants to keep you safe and out of the way while she figures out a plan to get rid of it, herself? Because it doesn't operate in the way we think it does? Who knows?"

Gwen checked her watch. "Well, if we leave, now, we can all make it to the Himalayas and get rid of this thing. But we've already cut out our Seo-failing-airport-security time."

"If Seo's been compromised, it's probably best if we don't bring her along, anyways," said Ianto.

They all moved towards their luggage, grabbing up their gear and everything they needed for their trip.

Buffy tapped on the table, uneasily. Still feeling like there was something about this… she was missing. Something really important. Something…

A deep shudder ran through her.

And she didn't know why.

Buffy got up. "I better go get Seo," she said. "So you can lock up the Hub. I'll keep an eye on her. Make sure she stays out of trouble."

"And make sure she doesn't do anything else that will end the world!" Gwen added, as Buffy raced off towards the interrogation room.

For a few seconds after Buffy left, everyone was silent.

"So," Owen began, with a planted smile on his face, "what do you think Seo meant by the phrase, 'I'm part Hell Goddess'?"

* * *

... xxx ...

* * *

After the Valiant, 2008.

"Until the announcement about the Toclafane, I was positive Seo was warning us about the thing in the Himalayas," said Buffy. "I didn't even think… it was something here."

Jack said nothing.

"I gotta give Torchwood credit, though," said Buffy. "I figured the moment Seo revealed how alien she really was, they'd kill her on the spot. But they didn't." A faint smile crept up Buffy's lips. "In the end, it didn't matter if she wasn't fully human. They still thought of her as one of them."

Memories bombarded Jack. Memories of that Year…

Of all the screams of his team. All the ways they'd died. All the ways the Master had thought up to torture them, torture Jack. The sick, twisted games the Master had played…

That broken window, on the flight deck. Jack peering out at the ocean waves rolling about, beneath them, his eyes searching frantically…

Ianto's pale, sickly, scarred face, when the Master… had… had…

Oh, _Ianto_.

"Maybe Alison really _can_ get them to understand," said Buffy. "Maybe she…" Buffy stopped. Trailed off, staring at Jack, a little surprised. "You okay?"

Jack realized, only then, that he was crying.

And couldn't stop.


End file.
